First they link together in the mind of the speaker.

First they link together in the mind of the speaker. Then they are conveyed through the medium of words. This linkage which results in a sentence is termed ‘ إسناد ’. The primary part or subject of the sentence is called ‘ مُسنَد إليهِ ’ and the descriptive part or predicate is known as ‘ مُسنَد ’. To illustrate, consider a boy ( وَلَدٌ ) and the idea of laziness ( كَسلٌ ). There are several ways these two ideas can be linked together.

Some will result in sentences while others will form only phrases: 1. الوَلَدُ الكَسلانُ , the lazy boy: a descriptive phrase 2. كَسَلُ الوَلَدِ , the boy’s laziness: a possessive phrase 3. الوَلَدُ كَسلانُ , The boy is lazy: a full sentence ( إسناد- جملة إسميّة ). 4. كَسِِلَ الوَلَدُ , The boy became lazy: also a full sentence ( إسناد- جملة فعليّة ). In the third example “ الوَلَدُ كَسلانُ ” the إسم ‘ الوَلَدُ ’ which appears first is the مُسنَد إليهِ i.e. the primary part of the sentence.

The إسم (in this case adjective) كَسلانُ is the predicate and it appears second. In the fourth example “ كَسِِلَ الوَلَدُ ” again it’s the إسم :** الوَلَدُ which is being talked ‘about’, so it is the** مُسنَد إليه . Only here it does not appear first, but second. The فعل (verb) كَسِِلَ , appearing first, is the descriptive part and therefore the مُسنَد We see there is no consistent order in which they must appear. Subject and predicate do not mean first and second.

They mean primary and descriptive. When the sentence comprises of just two words, as in both the above examples, identifying the two is still relatively easy. However, like in all languages, sentences in Arabic are not restricted to just two words. They can be very long. Having sentences which are between ten and say twenty words long is quite normal in Arabic.

It is in such complex sentences that the process of identifying the subject, (made up of multiple phrases) from the predicate (also compound) becomes somewhat difficult. A great portion of نحو is devoted to parsing and analyzing sentences in order to determine the subject from the predicate, for even the basic translation of a sentence depends entirely on it. It is for this reason great scholars like Ibn Khaldun say “ أهَمُّها النَّحوُ إذ لَولاه أصلُ التَفاهُم ”.

(The most important of the sciences associated with the Arabic language is **نحو , for without it no communication can exist). ** لُغَه which is knowledge of vocabulary, according to him is the least important aspect of Arabic.